Bad Day?

Ever have as bad a day as this poor little creature in the picture? I hope not. I've had bad days all right but nothing as bad as this. I ran across this unfortunate animal partially trapped in pond ice last winter. Must have froze up real fast for him/her to not be able to get to safety in time. Maybe it was wounded or weak or sick and couldn't make it. Maybe it was already dead and somebody threw it onto a then slush-covered pond where it later froze around it. But who would bother with a dead rodent? And there were little tracks around it on the ice. I don't know, it may seem like a sick photo to some folks but I just had to remember the little creature. How many other people do you think sit and wonder and feel sad for a rodent that froze up in the ice? Probably not many. This little animal's life was worth something to me.

Last week I almost ran over a red squirrel. I was looking ahead when I saw something reddish running fast along a chain link fence. As I got closer I could tell it was a squirrel with something in its mouth getting ready to high tail it across the road in front of me. Just as I got there, it leapt(?) across. I didn't feel a thump but I didn't see the squirrel on the other side either. Of course I turned the car around and go see if it was laying dead on the road. To my relief there were no signs of it.

Odd things to post about but I really don't feel like getting into the usual wildlife woes of the West right now. Spring fever is giving me the itch to go to Yellowstone for the day and see the "big" (animals-wolves, buffalo, bears) but I am having a fine time enjoying the small animals and birds around here.